Would you believe the marvel that’s your body — the thing that propels you through life and allows you to sit, stand, walk, garden, cook, plays sports, and much more — contains a whopping 1,320 tendons? These fibrous tissues connect your muscles to your bones.
Unfortunately, when tendons become inflamed, you could suffer pain, stiffness, and swelling that can limit your mobility. Since tendons are throughout your body, tendonitis can strike anywhere. Common spots are your wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees, and ankles.
Our caring team at Empire Physical Therapy & Athletic Rehabilitation not only treats tendonitis and other tendon injuries with expertise and sensitivity, they’re invested in educating you about how to avoid tendonitis.
Billy Reilly, MS, PT, and Paul LaRosa, MS, PT, are committed to learning everything they can about your symptoms, devising a customized treatment plan and advising you how to take care of yourself going forward.
Whether you’re suffering from a well-known type of tendonitis like tennis elbow or rotator cuff impingement or something less common, it’s likely you’re miserable. It’s not easy to do everything you want with chronic pain, which can get worse over time.
Although there are some factors you can’t control that contribute to developing tendonitis, such as simply getting older, there are others you can do something about.
Overuse is another common cause of tendonitis. You’re at risk for tendonitis if your work requires repetitive movements (we’re talking to you, carpenters, painters, and data entry pros). The same is true if you play sports with gusto.
But is tendonitis really an inevitability?
Not necessarily. To reduce the likelihood that you’ll endure the swelling, tenderness, and pain of tendonitis, focus on:
Engaging in some mild aerobic activity or lightly jogging in place before you do anything intense or more demanding of your body loosens your tendons and stimulates blood flow, reducing your chances of developing tendonitis.
It might seem minor, but it’s actually quite important. Donning the wrong shoes when you exercise — say, wearing shoes meant for playing tennis when you run — may lead to incorrect body alignment.
Get help from the shoe salesperson to ensure you buy shoes in the right size as well.
Remember that phrase, “No pain, no gain”? Forget about it!
Don’t suddenly or drastically up the intensity or challenge level of your workout. Work with a trainer who can show you how to move the right way and build up to handle more intensity.
Incorporate rest days in your calendar to steer clear of tendonitis. Your tendons work hard, and ensuring some days contain no demanding physical activities lessens the probability that you’ll overstress your tendons.
Heeding these tips goes a long way to help you avoid tendonitis pain. And mix it up by enjoying a variety of exercises, including strength training, cardio activities, and flexibility exercises.
If something hurts while you’re exercising, stop. Gently stretching after exercise also benefits your tendons.
We prize both excellence and consistency in treatment, so when you visit Empire, you always see the same therapist.
If you come to us with tendonitis or other tendon problems, we may recommend:
There are several types of noninvasive e-stim treatments, but one key benefit for tendonitis sufferers is that e-stim has the ability to block pain receptors from the nerves to the brain.
Ultrasound therapy is also noninvasive and helps increase your blood flow, which improves circulation, eases pain, and supports healing.
And our patients gain the benefit of using our advanced onsite gym as they recover.
Contact us for an appointment at our Midtown East office in Manhattan, New York City.
